Paul and Peter Tiulana

Shirlie was a very outgoing young lady. During WWII she met sailors and soldiers and airmen because of her job and wrote letters with nearly all of them. A particular pair of brothers caught my attention ... Peter and Paul Tiulana. Both came through San Jose while in the military. Shirlie had held on to a number of letters from the Tiulana brothers. The ones that caught my eye were from Paul. He lost his leg in an accident shortly after he joined the armed forces to fight in WWII. He and Shirlie had met through his younger brother Peter and they corresponded while he was recuperating. 

The Tiulanas were from King Island in the Bering Strait, just off the Alaskan Seward Peninsula. He was an Inupiat Native and was taught at an early age how to survive in nature, how to hunt and where to go on the ice floes to look for seals. In addition, he learned how to mark moving ice, shore ice, and mainland ice to help understand drifting patterns and other necessities of living on a remote Alaskan island. 

The King Island Eskimos were forced to leave their island in the 1950s and were resettled in Nome, Anchorage and other locations in Alaska. Tiulana taught carving classes and workshops for the native organizations that serve Anchorage and he was a member of the King Island dancers for more than 40 years, serving  as their leader starting in 1956. He toured extensively with this group throughout Alaska and in the lower United States.

Even with an artificial leg, Paul accomplished so much in the world of art and dance, that in 1983, Tiulana was named Citizen of the Year by the statewide Alaska Federation of Natives for his work in promoting cultural heritage.

So here are some photos of his letters, which I have repatriated to the Tiulana family. The first three letters are from 1941 from King Island. Paul included a photo of himself by way of introduction. The others are from 1943 during the time of his recuperation.

A lifelong Alaska resident Paul Tiulana, 72, died June 17 1994 (b 21 Jun 1921) at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage. He was a King Island elder, a culture bearer, a traditional musician and a lecturer. His Native songs and his carving talent live on in his children and his children's children. His family said, "We will remember Paul for his smile, his loving spirit and his willingness to share his culture."